A trace of impatience appeared at the corner of Zhou Ruotan’s eye.
His indifferent gaze slowly shifted away, but the voices beside him continued to buzz incessantly.
“Teacher Yuan, your partner is not only handsome but considerate too. Where on earth did you find him?”
“That’s right, that’s right, Teacher Yuan. Please share some of your experience.”
Yuan Qian lifted the corners of her lips and smiled as she hugged Zhou Ruotan’s arm. “It’s all just fate.”
Xie Wanyin listened silently, feeling as though all the strength had been drained from her body. Even breathing had become difficult.
A bitter, sour feeling churned in her chest, leaving her stifled.
Some long-sealed memories flashed through her mind.
A few years ago, when she had first participated in an international competition, she had also looked forward to Zhou Ruotan coming.
But Zhou Ruotan had always said he was busy.
Every time, Xie Wanyin could only force a smile.
It wasn’t that she had never hoped for him to come, but Zhou Ruotan had never appeared.
Yet now, on nothing more than an ordinary workday, Zhou Ruotan had come.
Was it because that person was Yuan Qian?
Xie Wanyin bit her lip and irritably sent Qiao Yu a message.
Qiao Yu replied very quickly: “Damn, how do those two shameless jerks have the nerve to come show off their love in front of you?”
“Wanyin, just wait. I’m not going to let you suffer this humiliation!”
Xie Wanyin had not yet figured out what she meant when, not long afterward, a rustling sound came from outside.
Ten luxury cars had stopped at the entrance of the dance training institute.
All the colleagues crowded around the balcony to watch.
“Oh my god, who’s making such a grand entrance?”
“Someone’s getting out! He’s so handsome!”
Xie Wanyin suddenly had a feeling that something was terribly wrong.
The next second, ten handsome male models stepped out of the luxury cars one after another. Some had cool, indifferent features, while others had gentle expressions. Each had his own distinctive charm.
Xie Wanyin’s heart tightened, and her eyes widened more than anyone else’s.
Soon, the ten male models came upstairs and quickly surrounded Xie Wanyin.
“Sister Wanyin, we’re here to pick you up after work.”
“Sister Wanyin, let me carry your bag. Is there anything else you need to take?”
The ten male models were extremely attentive. One carried her bag, while another brought her milk tea. They followed behind Xie Wanyin the entire way.
Even when she got into the car, they laid out a red carpet first and opened the door for her.
Her colleagues stood there dumbfounded. They looked at one another, their faces flushed from holding back, yet not a single one of them could say a word.
The smile on Yuan Qian’s face could no longer hold.
She pressed herself tightly against Zhou Ruotan, trying to appear unconcerned, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not keep up the act.
Just then, another hand suddenly pulled away.
Yuan Qian’s pupils contracted slightly. She reached out after it, but still failed to catch that hand.
The rims of Zhou Ruotan’s eyes were bloodshot, and his entire face darkened.
Fine, Xie Wanyin. After three years apart, you’ve actually become quite capable!
You only got a boyfriend yesterday, and today you’ve already got a whole group of male models picking you up after work.
It seemed that during these three years without him, Xie Wanyin had been living very comfortably indeed!
How dare she?
The woman who dared to do all this, Xie Wanyin, had no time to concern herself with anyone else. Surrounded by the male models, she was ushered into the luxury car.
The moment she got in, Xie Wanyin called her best friend.
“Are you trying to get me killed?”
That was what she said, but when she thought of the shocked expressions on Zhou Ruotan and Yuan Qian’s faces, a few traces of satisfaction rose in her heart.
“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Isn’t this because I was afraid you’d be bullied?” Qiao Yu coughed twice. “I got in touch with the old traditional Chinese medicine doctor you couldn’t get an appointment with before. I consulted him, and he said there’s a chance your leg injury can be cured. I made an appointment for you. Go tomorrow, around this time.”
Xie Wanyin’s heart suddenly began to race, and the hand gripping her phone tightened.
After a long while, she finally spoke. “Thanks.”
When her left leg had first been injured, it wasn’t that she had never tried to make an appointment. It was simply that this traditional Chinese medicine doctor was too famous, and she had never been able to get in.
“What are you thanking me for? When you insisted on getting together with Zhou Ruotan back then, I should have talked you out of it.” A sigh came from the other end of the phone. “But I don’t have time tomorrow, my darling Wanyin. I’ll accompany you next time.”
After hanging up, Xie Wanyin received the address and contact number for the traditional Chinese medicine clinic from her.
The sound of her heartbeat drowned out the noisy sounds around her.
But it had already been three years… Was there really still a chance?
Xie Wanyin closed her trembling lashes and smiled bitterly without a sound.
The next day, she followed the address and found the place.
It was a private traditional Chinese medicine clinic with a great deal of prestige. It belonged to a century-old family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and had even appeared on the news several times.
Her appointment time had not yet arrived, so Xie Wanyin sat in the waiting room.
Even after dozens of surgeries and rehabilitation treatments, her leg still could not endure standing or sitting for long.
Even if the treatment could only help a little…
Xie Wanyin took a deep breath and raised her head, only to meet a pair of deep, shadowy eyes.
Why was Zhou Ruotan here?
Before she could figure it out, Zhou Ruotan had already strode over.
His low, hoarse voice rang out. “Xie Wanyin, are you here to complain?”
Complain?
Xie Wanyin did not understand. She had come to have her leg examined—what was there to complain about?
Could the traditional Chinese medicine doctor be Father Zhou?
Xie Wanyin sneered. “Zhou Ruotan, I’m here to have my leg treated. What are you here for? Traditional Chinese medicine can’t treat your brain. Go see a psychiatrist.”
Zhou Ruotan’s brows drew together.
His expression was cold, and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes.
The moment he thought of the ten male models from the day before, Zhou Ruotan became so angry his teeth ached. He had not slept properly the entire night.
Carrying a murderous aura around him, Zhou Ruotan said irritably, “Xie Wanyin, you can find ten men, so what could possibly be wrong with your legs?”
“You—”
Xie Wanyin’s heart trembled, and she instinctively raised her hand to slap him.
The hand she had lifted halfway was intercepted. Zhou Ruotan gripped it tightly.
“Have you had enough? Didn’t you come here because you wanted to complain to my parents?”
“Xie Wanyin, don’t forget that you were the one who insisted on asking for a divorce.”
An unbelievable thought flashed through Xie Wanyin’s mind.
She remembered that group chat.
Someone had said that Zhou Ruotan’s biological parents were famous practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.
It couldn’t really be such a coincidence, could it?
The doctor was actually Zhou Ruotan’s biological father.
Zhou Ruotan’s eyes darkened. “I’ve explained what happened back then countless times. Xie Wanyin, why do you always refuse to listen to me properly?”
Xie Wanyin suddenly felt like laughing.
Was she the one who refused to listen? Going over everything again and again, it was always either that Zhou Ruotan had been helpless or that he had his own difficulties.
Yes, Zhou Ruotan had been adopted by the Yuan family as a child. Of course Yuan Qian was different to him.
But had Zhou Ruotan ever thought about how terrified she had been during the earthquake, or how frightened she had been in the hospital?
She had been afraid she would never be able to stand again. She had been afraid she would never return to the stage.
When the doctor had apologized and told her that the baby was gone, she had nearly collapsed in despair.
But what had Zhou Ruotan been doing?
He had actually been accompanying Yuan Qian on her birthday!
That had been the first child she and Zhou Ruotan had shared.
Xie Wanyin felt as though an invisible hand were viciously squeezing her heart, draining every last bit of oxygen from her lungs.
She tried to wrench her hand free, but his grip only tightened.
“Let go.” Xie Wanyin swallowed the bitterness in her throat. “Zhou Ruotan, I’m not that bored, nor do I have that much free time to play this kind of game with you.”
The corners of Zhou Ruotan’s eyes lifted slightly, forming a sharp arc.
The force in his hand suddenly increased. Xie Wanyin was startled, and before she could react, inertia pulled her forward. Her entire body fell into Zhou Ruotan’s arms.
His slender fingertips brushed across her palm, leaving behind a faint tingling sensation.
Xie Wanyin’s back stiffened, her heart nearly bursting from her chest. Even her breathing slowed by half a beat.
She instinctively raised her head.
Immediately afterward, Zhou Ruotan’s handsome face suddenly enlarged before her eyes.
A forceful, urgent kiss landed on her lips.
The touch of his lips carried an irresistible, possessive quality—familiar yet strange.
For one second, Xie Wanyin’s mind went blank. Then an overwhelming sense of humiliation and fury surged into her heart.
A crisp, resounding slap exploded through the spacious, quiet waiting room of the traditional Chinese medicine clinic.
Zhou Ruotan’s face was struck to one side, and clear fingerprints instantly appeared on his pale cheek.
He seemed to have been stunned by the slap as well. His dark pupils contracted violently.
He stared at the red-eyed woman before him in disbelief.
“Zhou Ruotan, you disgust me!” Xie Wanyin’s entire body trembled. She shoved him away with all her strength and fiercely wiped her lips with the back of her hand in disgust.
The patients waiting nearby all sucked in sharp breaths.
The enormous waiting room instantly fell silent. Everyone’s eyes stabbed toward them in unison, like spotlights.
A few people who enjoyed watching a spectacle immediately raised their phones, wanting to record this humiliating scene.
“How dare you! What are you doing?”
A sharp female voice suddenly rang out from the end of the corridor.
Xie Wanyin looked toward the voice and saw a woman and a middle-aged man, both dressed in white coats, walking over together.
They were none other than Zhou Ruotan’s biological parents, whom he had only recently acknowledged.
Mother Zhou hurried over in high heels and pulled Zhou Ruotan to her. She looked at the red mark on her son’s face with concern, then turned toward Xie Wanyin. Her eyes were already filled with blade-sharp contempt and disgust.
“How dare you hit someone in public? What kind of uncultured little brat are you? You have absolutely no shame!” Mother Zhou raised her voice to the highest pitch, as if afraid the people around them might not hear.
“This is the Zhou family’s hospital! What kind of place do you think a hospital is? Is it somewhere an uncultured little brat like you can throw a tantrum? Do you have no morals at all?”
Xie Wanyin was so angry that she laughed. Her nails dug deeply into her palms as she endured the sharp, stabbing pain running through her left leg from being pulled around just now.
“Madam, get your facts straight. He was the one who came over and acted crazy.”
“If we’re talking about who has no morals, I’d say this person is the one with the least.”
“You still dare to argue?” Mother Zhou sized Xie Wanyin up from head to toe. Her gaze suddenly fixed on Xie Wanyin’s cool, defiant face, as if she had remembered something. Her expression immediately became even darker and uglier.
“Wait… I’ve seen your photograph. You’re that ex-wife who abandoned Ruotan three years ago, Xie Wanyin?”
The moment those words were spoken, whispers immediately rose around them.
“So she’s the ex-wife…”
“I heard that Doctor Zhou’s son’s ex-wife was snobbish and abandoned her husband to run away during the earthquake. She’s absolutely heartless.”
“Now that she’s seen he’s acknowledged his roots and become rich, she’s come crawling back, hasn’t she? Shameless.”
“Exactly. She even came to cause trouble at the hospital his parents run. How despicable. She must be here to ask for money.”
As Mother Zhou listened to the surrounding comments, she raised her chin even higher, her eyes full of disdain.
“No wonder I felt something bad was going to happen first thing this morning! Xie Wanyin, back then, you saw that Ruotan was an orphan with no backing, so when disaster struck, you turned around and ran. Now that you know our Zhou family is a century-old family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, and that Ruotan is the treasured son of our Zhou family, you’ve come here to cling to him shamelessly? I’m telling you, don’t even think about it!”
“Mom, stop talking for now.” Zhou Ruotan’s brows were tightly furrowed. He instinctively wanted to step forward and pull Mother Zhou back, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on Xie Wanyin’s increasingly pale face.
“Sister Wanyin?”
A delicate voice tinged with grievance suddenly cut in.
Yuan Qian appeared from somewhere. Her eyes were red, and she stepped forward with an understanding expression to support Mother Zhou’s arm. Her words sounded like an attempt to reconcile the two sides, but every sentence only added fuel to the fire.
“Aunt Zhou, please don’t blame Sister Wanyin. She must have had her reasons for leaving without saying goodbye back then. Although… although her abandonment did cause Brother Ruotan to develop severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and he had to rely on sleeping pills to fall asleep for an entire year, trembling all over whenever he heard the words ‘earthquake’…”